Diane Scott to stand aside for Labour in Brentford and Isleworth

11 May 2017

Hounslow Green Party has announced that Diane Scott will not be standing for the Brentford and Isleworth constituency in the 2017 General Election.

Diane Scott said “The Green Party can’t win in Brentford and Isleworth this time. If I stood we would split the progressive vote. This is a very close seat where the Labour majority in 2015 was only 465, much less than the Green Party vote of 2,120. This election is very important because the Brexit deal will determine the quality of life for all of us. We don’t want to see a brutally hard Brexit agreement accompanied by a watering down of environmental and other protections. We don’t want to see EU citizens forcibly repatriated from this country. We have made a one-off decision to stand down and support the only party that can stop a hard Brexit. In this constituency Joe Bourke of the Liberal Democrats got only 2,305 votes last time, and he can’t win this time.

We have obtained important commitments from the Labour candidate Ruth Cadbury on proportional representation and the environment. We have not entered into a full strategic alliance with Labour at this stage, but hope that our tactical decision to stand aside will encourage an alliance of the progressive parties in the future. All the members of the local party were balloted on this decision in an open, transparent and inclusive process.

We thank all those voters who voted Green in the past and apologise to voters who wanted to vote Green this time and now can’t.”

Ruth Cadbury has committed, if elected, to:

vote for proportional representation in Westminster

work to influence Labour's policy process in favour of proportional representation

fight the Tories watering down commitments on Climate Change, particularly as part of 'hard Brexit'

support work in Parliament prioritising the environment and climate change, particularly on energy and trade policies

continue opposing Heathrow expansion

continue campaigning on air pollution

Ruth would also like to see Labour stand aside for the Green Party in Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight.

Daniel Goldsmith, who stood for the Green Party in this seat in 2015 said “Diane would have been an excellent candidate and raised important environmental issues. I have been impressed with the work of Ruth Cadbury as an MP. She has campaigned hard against the third runway and air-pollution. As a keen cyclist I appreciate her work on cycling, where she is co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group. I admire her commitment as a Quaker to achieve non-violent solutions to political conflicts. I will be lending my vote to Ruth this time, as the only candidate who will fight against a hard Brexit.